Specialist Mental Health Practitioner - Occupational Therapist

NHS; Exeter; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization is seeking a Specialist Mental Health Practitioner to join its Eating Disorder Pathway. The role demands a qualified Occupational Therapist with experience in mental health assessments and multi-disciplinary collaboration. You will support children and families facing complex challenges, developing tailored interventions. The position offers an opportunity to work within a developing service focusing on person-centered care, ensuring the health and well-being of young individuals in Devon.

Qualifications

• Experience collaborating with service users and families, using goal-based care.
• Experience in multi-disciplinary teams and across agencies.
• Ability to work with complex children's mental health needs.

Responsibilities

• Assess and provide therapeutic interventions for children with mental health challenges.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Supervise and support other professionals.

Skills

Collaboration with service users

Experience in multi-disciplinary teams

Specialist mental health assessment

Therapeutic interventions

Travel across Devon

Education

Occupational Therapy qualification

Registration with the HCPC

Specialist training or equivalent experience

Training in supervision and/or leadership skills

Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

Job description

Specialist Mental Health Practitioner - Occupational Therapist

We are excited to advertise for an Occupational Therapist to join our Eating Disorder Pathway as a Specialist Mental Health Practitioner.

We seek an Occupational Therapist with a solid foundation in sensory assessment, understanding how sensory processing differences affect daily life and participation, and confident in using evidence-based tools to identify sensory needs. You will work directly with clients, families, and our multidisciplinary team to develop tailored interventions that support regulation, independence, and meaningful engagement. Strong experience working with autistic individuals is valued.

Working with colleagues, the clinical lead, and senior management, you will bring your skills, experience, and enthusiasm to the role. You will provide assessment and interventions, collaborate with professionals, and deliver supervision and consultation. The role includes extensive liaison with wider mental health services and paediatric teams in local hospitals.

We welcome varied backgrounds and aim to build a service that recognises the multi-faceted difficulties underlying eating disorders and values diverse professional perspectives. You will supervise and support others, ensuring the service responds promptly to children, young people, and families with complex social, emotional, and mental health needs.

If you are passionate about creating supportive, person-centred environments and empowering individuals to thrive, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

You willbe working as part of a county wide team that provides assessment, treatmentand intervention to children, young people and families who present to ourservice with a variety of challenges related to restricted eating.

We are aservice going through a process of development and growth. You'll need a senseof humour, the ability to work with others and a capacity to offer energy,ideas and leadership. On the wish list is experience in mental health, eatingdisorders and working in a multi-disciplinary team to help people change. Weare looking for people who have strong ethical perspectives and the ability tovalue different approaches

About us

Children andFamily Health Devon (CFHD) comprises an Alliance of NHS organisations workingtogether to improve health outcomes for children and young people in Devon.

CFHDprovides integrated care and treatment for children and young people acrossphysical and mental health which are provided by Torbay and South DevonFoundation Trust and Devon Partnership Trust. We are working closely with otherorganisations and providers to ensure we deliver locality and county-wide basedintegrated access to all of our services.

CFHD works closely with our localuniversities of Plymouth, Exeter & the Peninsula Medical School where wesupport students in clinical training placements and in addition support ourown staff to undertake post graduate training.

Our integrated care and treatmenthas been developed and refined in partnership with children, young people andtheir families/carers.

Wewould like the people who work for Children and Family Health Devon to beunderstanding, patient and respectful. They should be trustworthy and make usfeel safe and comfortable. It is important that they use their skills andexperience to listen carefully in a non-patronising and non-judgemental way.When staff are positive and friendly, they help to create an environment thatis informal and without pressure.

Our vision is to be a successful, vibrant,partnership that benefits the communities we serve.

Job responsibilities

Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working collaboratively with service users and their families/carers, including using goal-based care and routine outcome measures in practice.
• Experience of working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team and across agencies
• Experience of undertaking specialist mental health assessment and therapeutic interventions for in the area of childrens mental health, with the ability to work with complex needs and undertake risk assessments

Skills

• Ability to travel across Devon

Qualifications

• Professional knowledge acquired through degree supplemented by specialist training or equivalent experience to Masters level with an Occupational Therapy qualification to degree level or equivalent
• Training in an evidence-based therapeutic approach
• Active registration with the HCPC as a registered Occupational Therapist
• Training in supervision and/or leadership skills or willing to work towards
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.